


Like Snowflakes

by TheIfInLife



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 19:44:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9139558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIfInLife/pseuds/TheIfInLife
Summary: “So,” Louis trails off, feeling his cheeks get warm. “Do you want to pretend to be my boyfriend and meet my family over break?”There's silence. With every second that passes, Louis feels his throat closing in panic. His face is suspiciously blank and Louis can’t handle it. Harry is obviously going to say no, he might as well get it over with. Laughter bubbles from Harry’s throat until it’s spilling out so loudly that Louis joins in for a second. That is until he remembers that he is actually laughing at him and the dilemma that he is in.“This is not funny!” He honestly pouts when Liam joins in. The two of them laugh until tears are streaming down their faces. Harry’s eyes are a special kind of green when he cries.“Sorry,” Harry clears his throat, still clearly finding this situation overly humorous. “I’m taking this seriously, promise. So you need a fake boyfriend to have coffee with your mother and look at all your hideous baby photos, I’m so okay with that. Wait – is your mum a good cook?”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnonymousDoll](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousDoll/gifts).



> First, I am so sorry to AnonymousDoll for this being late. I loved the prompts that were given to me. It was so hard to choose which one I wanted to write and I honestly feel like this fic doesn't do your prompt justice. I'm sorry if it is not really what you wanted. 
> 
> Second, to the readers waiting on updates from other fics, I'm sorry. School has been so stressful that I could not handle trying to write. And when break came around, I was just exhausted. Hopefully I've found my spark again. The first things I'm working on are I Hear Symphonies Series and the Never Understood fic that is still unfinished. 
> 
> Lastly, if you wish to find me elsewhere, you can visit [my Tumblr](http://larryismyotpuniverse.tumblr.com/) and talk to me! Have a lovely day!

He hung up the phone feeling his pulse in the tips of his fingers. At first it had started off as just a thing he said to appease his pushy parents. Louis had it all planned out but what had just happened on the phone with his mother was not a part of the plan. He needed to figure something out and he needed to do it fast.

Louis is nearly late to his next class in the frenzy to get everything figured out. He drops into his usual seat for his World War II class just as the professor is writing yet another date on the board. He needs to be paying attention considering his grade is in danger of slipping and that is simply unheard of. But the ticking of the clock serves his frantic mind better. He watches the people next to him as their pencils scratch against paper.

_April 30 th 1945 – Hitler commits suicide_, Louis reads from the Zayn’s notes next to him. As he considers all of his options, a thought crosses his mind. He could ask Zayn. As soon as he thinks of asking Zayn, he decides against it. All he really knows Zayn as is the boy who has sat next to him for every history class that they have together. They’ve never had any type of interaction outside of occasionally exchanging notes. He highly doubts that they would ever have enough chemistry with each other to pull this off.

So naturally, Louis decides to start looking through the contacts on his phone to help his situation. He shoots a quick text to one of his best friends, Harry, as he passes his name.

_This class is soo boring_ , he types to him and then moves on down the list.

When he gets to Liam’s name, Louis decides that Liam will know what to do. Liam has been his best friend since they met at freshman orientation three precious years ago.  Louis made him count to ten at least thirty times the first day they met because of Liam’s different accent. Louis has a northern accent and Liam clearly doesn’t. Though Liam looks like a body builder (Louis’ scrawny body crumbles in comparison) from the insane amount of emphasis on his wrestling career – he’s intelligent. He’s a teddy bear with muscles. So Louis texts him the entire story. Only once Louis has finished ranting about it he can put his phone away and focus on the happenings at the end of the Second World War.

After what seems like an eternity, class is finally dismissed. There are only two weeks of the semester left, including finals week so it’s getting a bit hectic and as much as it should be, academics are not even on Louis’ mind. He hurries across campus, pulling his jacket closer to himself to shield from the biting wind. His footsteps crunch with each step onto the frozen ground. When he finally gets inside their apartment building, Louis’ nose is red and runny.  

“Liam!” He shouts the moment that he’s within the safety of their apartment.

“You scared me,” Niall jumps from his spot on the couch. “Liam is in his room.”

Louis chuckles to himself. He and Liam have taken to calling Harry and his roommate Niall their house leeches. They spend more time here than they do their own apartment. Secretly, Louis thinks that it is because Niall has a thing for Liam. No one believes him because Niall, with his lavender hair and facial piercings, is too edgy for the conservative, probably straight Liam. Louis knows it’ll happen eventually.

Louis walks into Liam’s room without knocking, immediately launching into his dilemma.

“Didn’t you get my text? I’ve got a real issue on my hands here, Liam.”  He barely notices Liam pulling his blanket over his head and groaning. “What am I going to do?”

“Um,” Liam throws his covers to the side, clearly giving up any pretense of sleeping. “Here’s a thought – tell the truth.”

“Okay, obviously you don’t understand the situation. You’ve met my mother! She will kill me. Help me come up with a plan that ends with me alive please?” Louis is possibly being a bit dramatic but annoying Liam is the best way to get him to help.

“Oh my god, Louis.” Liam sighs but Louis can see the hint of a smile. “Tell her that you broke up or something. Actually no, I know what we have to do.”

Liam jumps out of his bed and runs out of the room, leaving Louis standing there even more confused than before. A few minutes later, Liam reenters the room, Harry right on his heels.

“No,” Louis immediately says. “No, absolutely not.”

“Um, what’s going on?” Harry asks, tucking a brown curl behind his ear. His green eyes are sparkling particularly brightly today.

“But why not?” Liam ignores Harry’s question. “In your text you mentioned Zayn. Well, Harry makes so much more sense. You lot flirt all the time anyway just –”

“What?” Harry asks again, flipping his hair and then running his fingers through it like he does when he’s unsure.

“But –” Louis begins to say but Liam interrupts him.

“Louis, c’mon.” Liam then turns to Harry. “Louis has something he needs to ask you.”

“Oh you’re actually acknowledging me?” Harry teases. “I was beginning to think you forgot I was here.”

Louis opens his mouth to banter back with Harry but that stops in its tracks when he sees the look that Liam gives him.

“So,” Louis trails off, feeling his cheeks get warm. “Do you want to pretend to be my boyfriend and meet my family over break?”

There's silence. With every second that passes, Louis feels his throat closing in panic. His face is suspiciously blank and Louis can’t handle it. Harry is obviously going to say no, he might as well get it over with.

Laughter bubbles from Harry’s throat until it’s spilling out so loudly that Louis joins in for a second. That is until he remembers that he is actually laughing at him and the dilemma that he is in.

“This is not funny!” He honestly pouts when Liam joins in. The two of them laugh until tears are streaming down their faces. Harry’s eyes are a special kind of green when he cries.

“Sorry,” Harry clears his throat, still clearly finding this situation overly humorous. “I’m taking this seriously, promise. So you need a fake boyfriend to have coffee with your mother and look at all your hideous baby photos, I’m so okay with that. Wait – is your mum a good cook?”

“I hate you.” Louis says, not meaning it one bit. He can’t even stop the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Aww, is that how you treat your boyfriend?” He’s obviously teasing and Louis knows that. The fact that the two of them can sit around and make fun of each other is one of the reasons why he quickly became one of Louis’ best friends.

“I am regretting my decisions. And I am going to go do homework.” Louis rolls his eyes, mind finally being able to remember that he’s got a fifty page reading and an eight page paper due tomorrow that he has yet to start.

Louis makes it down the hall before he hears both Liam and Harry shout; “Baby come back!” like the song. He laughs but continues to his room. As he closes the door he realizes that he is never going to live this one down.

“So,” Liam says over breakfast in the caf a few days after Harry agreed to be his fake boyfriend, “I’ve been thinking and I have an idea.”

“Dangerous,” Louis jokes. “Lay it on me.”

“So you and Harry flirt all the time but you don’t do the physical stuff that couples do.”

“Lime, if you’re suggesting what I think you are suggesting…” Louis trails off, face going red at the thought of him and Harry having sex.

“What?” Liam doesn’t understand for a good thirty seconds but it’s clear that he understands when he goes red to the tips of his ears. “No! No, no, no. No. That is _not_ what I meant. I meant that you don’t cuddle or kiss or hold hands like couples do. Not that. Not like _sex._ ”

“So what, you’re suggesting that we…practice that kind of stuff?” Excitement flits through Louis’ veins. He imagines what it would be like to be able to hold Harry’s hand. He imagines what it would feel like to have Harry’s fingers in between his. His breath catches in his throat when he imagines what it would feel like to kiss Harry. Louis wonders if his lips would be soft. Probably. Harry owns more chap stick than anyone he’s ever met. Would Harry be able to feel the growing stubble on Louis’ chin? Or what if Harry thought that Louis’ lips weren’t soft enough? Louis only moisturizes his lips when he absolutely needs it.

“Louis, are you listening?” Liam is waving a hand in front of Louis’ face when he pulls Harry from his thoughts and fully focuses on Liam.

“Yeah, go on then.”

“So we have two weeks to get you two looking like a real couple. We meet tomorrow.”

And so Relationship Boot Camp began. Every night after Harry got home from work, they practiced looking like a couple.

Holding hands with Harry and putting his arm around Harry has been easy. Louis did not expect that. The transition was so smooth; it was almost felt as if this were simply a part of their friendship.

“So,” Liam clasps his hands together on the last night of their ‘training.’ “I think it’s time that we move on from the hand holding…”

Liam trails off because they have honestly been putting off the kissing. There are not many things that are awkward between Louis and Harry. But the planned idea of them kissing has both of them obviously antsy.

“Okay,” Louis sighs nervously. He wipes his sweaty palms on his jeans, turning to face Harry. “Ready?”

“Yeah,” Harry gulps audibly. He’s shaking and Louis wants nothing but to comfort him.

Harry closes his eyes, still visibly shaking. Louis runs his thumb over Harry’s cheek and then keeps his hand there, holding Harry in the only way that feels right in the moment.

Louis leans in slowly, trying to remember how to breathe. When their lips touch, everything seems to go at one hundred miles an hour. All that Louis can process is the Harry’s lips are softer than he could possibly even imagine. One thing that Louis definitely was not expecting was how great of a kisser Harry would be. It should not have been surprising to Louis considering Harry is an attractive person but Louis is a little (a lot) blown away. Harry grips onto Louis’ knee like it’s his lifeline. He makes the smallest sound in the back of his throat which makes Louis’ heart beat just a little faster. His kisses are so soft yet so powerful. Louis gets lost. He doesn’t remember where he is or what day it is, all he knows is that Harry’s lips are on his and everything feels right.

“Okay,” Liam’s awkward voice pierces through the moment, effectively ending it.

Louis is the first to pull away. He pretends not to notice the way that Harry actually chases after his lips. He doesn’t have the room in his thoughts to process that currently.

“That was um,” Liam clears his throat, pulling at the collar of his shirt. “Good. That was good. No need to practice that again.”

“One and done.” Harry says, voice sounding just a bit away from himself.

Everyone laughs at that, breaking the tension of the moment.

“Anyway,” Liam claps his hands together. “You are officially ready.”

He smiles at the two of them in a way that gives Louis the feeling that he knows something that Louis and Harry don’t. But then Louis’ mind goes back to how absolutely amazing that kiss was and it is literally impossible to think of anything else.

-

“So, I’ll meet you at the train station on the twenty eighth?” Louis says, not wanting to leave just yet. It makes sense though; Harry’s his best friend of course it sucks to not be with him. It’s nothing more than that.

“Yeah,” His voice seems softer than before. Or maybe Louis is just now paying attention to it. “You know, I could just go with you. My family won’t miss me too much on Christmas –”

“No,” Louis says firmly. “I’m not taking you away from your family for Christmas just because my crazy mum wants to meet my boyfriend.”

Silence. Louis can’t quite place the look on his face. He’s momentarily distracted by the fact that snow has started to fall and he watches as tiny flakes start to waft peacefully around them. Some land on his hair, the white creating a stark contrast with the chocolate brown of Harry’s hair. When a single flake makes its home on Harry’s cheek, Louis’ first reaction is to swipe it off with his thumb and right when their eyes meet, words are spilling out of Louis’ mouth.

“F-fake boyfriend. Don’t need you missing Christmas to be my fake boyfriend because um. Yeah, especially because then I would have to buy you something and I definitely don’t want to do that.” The tips of Louis’ ears go pink because he attempted joking with him to cover up the awkwardness that he felt but it didn’t work.

“Okay,” He sighs. “I’m going to hit the road then. See you later, weirdo!”

Louis stands there chuckling to himself like an idiot as he watches him go. He watches until he can’t see his silver Ford Fusion anymore. After he’s gone Louis simply sighs and climbs into his car, preparing himself for the long drive with the muffler dragging on the road the entire way.

The six hour drive gives him too much time to just think. He still hasn’t gotten his mum one of the things that he had wanted to. Maybe he really should get Harry a Christmas present. But what should he even get him? What does Harry even want for Christmas? Maybe he’ll get Harry the airplane necklace that he’d pointed out or something. Even a fake boyfriend is a lot of stress.

As soon as he gets home, it feels like he can breathe again. The stress of the semester simply melts away. It smells like Christmas in the house, his mum having put her Christmas candles all over the house. The Christmas tree is casting rainbow colored lights all throughout the living room. Everything feels right.

“My boy!” His father comes into the room wearing a plaid Christmas sweater. He claps Louis on the back, smiling bright. “Only one more semester left.”

“Yeah,” Louis smiles back at his father. “I’m ready to be done.”

He hears his mother coming before he sees her.

“Louis, my baby!” She has tears in her eyes already. “I’m so glad you’re home. Oh, I missed you so very much! Now where is this lovely mystery man?”

“I told you three times,” Louis says it with frustration but worry twists its way through his stomach as he’s faced with the evidence of his aging mother. “He’s not coming until after Christmas.”

“Oh right dear. Well come sit down and have some hot chocolate. I need to hear more about this boy.”

The two of them sat at the dining room table with their mugs and talked about everything. They discussed politics, the neighbors, school, and anything that crossed their minds. It was nice catching up with his mother. And then she brought it up.

“So tell me about this boy. What did you say his name was?”

“Harry,” Louis says, fingers wrapping tighter around the handle of his mug. “He’s really great. He…He’s the funniest boy that I’ve ever met and he is just as sarcastic as I am. But he’s also great at being serious too though. He’s just been the best friend that I could have asked for. He laughs too loud and loves being the center of attention but he looks so cute doing it. Also, he is absolutely stunning – way out of my league. All of us went out to dinner a few weeks ago and he looked … beautiful. I don’t know how he’s done it but he’s annoying but I like it. He leaves these dumb little notes on my desk to remind me to do my homework like he’s my mother or something but I have actually grown to love it. I love him.”

“Aww,” His mother practically squeals. She continues talking but Louis has zoned out.

“I have to go.” Louis suddenly announced, practically running from the table.

He runs to his room where his phone is plugged into the charger and immediately dials Liam’s number. Liam answers on the third ring.

“If you’re calling me to serenade me with Mariah Carey again, I’m hanging up.” Liam answers in lieu of an actual hello.

“I’m in love with Harry.”

“Finally!” Liam shouts victoriously. “I was beginning to think that I would have to sit you down and break the news myself.”

“Wait, you knew?” Louis asked, clearly confused. He smoothed down the Spiderman sheets on his bed as an attempt to calm the nerves that were rising.

“Considering you spend more time flirting with Harry than you spend on your homework I would say yeah, everyone knows. Well, everyone except Harry. Both of you are idiots.”

“So you think he’s into me –” Louis tries to respond but Liam interrupts him.

“Let me put this in really simple terms for you,” Liam starts, his specific accent coming out even stronger after having been around his family. “You love him. He loves you. Y’all are gonna end up together really soon. End of story.”

The days before Harry arrives go by slowly and quickly at the same time. He’s going to tell him that he loves him. He’s going to tell him because he has to. He’s never been the suffer-in-silence type. But the question is how is he going to tell him? Should he try to look up things that boys find romantic? Maybe he’ll buy roses. But some boys think flowers are a dumb gift because they die. Should he write him a letter? Nah, his handwriting is so terrible that he probably wouldn’t even be able to read it. Maybe he should ask his mother for advice. No, that’s actually a terrible idea. Louis paces his room as he goes over his options. This is almost as stressful as finals. His thoughts are interrupted by his ringtone.

_I miss you!_ Three simple words from Harry made Louis’ entire mood lighten. He texts back and then gets distracted by going through their old messages. How had he not realized his feelings sooner? Liam was right; the two of them were so completely obvious.

Christmas comes and goes. His mum nearly swats him when she finds out how much money he spent on one of her Christmas gifts especially considering that all he got his dad was a package of socks. Overall, it was an amazing day filled with food and family.

When the twenty eighth finally rolls around, Louis is nervous and that’s putting it lightly. He even asks his mum to come so that he can drive because he’s too distracted to drive. There is no plan. He has no idea what he’s going to do or say or how he’s even going to act around him now that he has realized his feelings.

“The news said that we weren’t expecting snow today but these clouds are telling me a different story.” His voice breaks the silence in the car making Louis wonder if his emotions are obvious to him.

“Yeah,” He says noncommittally, looking out his window.

They don’t talk for the rest of the ride to the train station. Louis feels like he’s sweating everywhere. He vaguely wonders if he should apply deodorant before actually seeing Harry. Just thinking of him makes nerves twist in his stomach.

The train station is cold. As soon as he and his mum get into their positions waiting for Harry to step off the train, a heavy snow starts to fall. Louis’ mind flashes to _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ as snowflakes drift down to the cold cement. He thinks of little towns living inside snowflakes until he hears the train coming. As the train approaches, his nerves get worse. It gets louder and Louis’ breaths get quicker. His mum squeezes his shoulder reassuringly as the train comes to a stop in front of them. There's an absolute flurry of people once the doors are opened, all sorts of people are everywhere. But the moment that he spots Harry everything clicks. All he can see is his bright red pea-coat. He’s stopped in his tracks for just a moment as he’s presented with his beauty. Harry’s hair is long and flowing, curling at the ends so that it catches just a little more snow than the rest. When he catches his eye from across the dwindling crowd, Louis inhales sharply. They’re smiling at each other like idiots but Louis couldn’t care less. What starts out as a fast walk towards each other turns into an all-out run.

When they meet, their bodies slam together. Louis doesn’t think he picks Harry up off the ground because he’s so happy to see him. All his previous nerves have flown out the window, all that he’s thinking is that he’s so glad to see Harry and he’s so in love with him.

“I love you,” He says as soon as Harry is back on his feet.

“Finally,” He smiles and pulls him into a kiss.

Four years later, Louis’ mum stands in front of the crowd with a picture in her hand as she talks to the crowd.

 

“They didn’t know it until later,” He says, holding the picture up as tears freely fall from his eyes. “But I got a picture of them that beautiful day. The picture itself isn’t a spectacular one. It’s a little blurry because technology is hard for this old brain but it’s always been one of my favorite pictures of the two of you.”

There is a chorus of ‘awww’ among the crowd as he takes a moment attempting to dry his eyes and hold back the emotion. When he pulls himself together again, he walks over to stand directly in front of Louis and Harry. His smile is tearful but yet so joyous as he hands the picture to Louis.

“May you look at this picture whenever things get tough and remember how you felt on this day. Welcome to the family Harry.” He sniffles again as he hands the microphone over to a member of the bridal party.

Louis’ eyes scan over the picture. Harry’s face is tucked into Louis’ shoulder but he’s holding him tight. It was taken right as he had picked him up so his mother was right in saying that it was a little blurry but Louis’ smile was clear. If he remembered to love his husband every day like he loved Harry in this picture he knew their marriage would last a lifetime.


End file.
